Between October and November, volume of services rendered in Brazil changed 0.4%, breaking a sequence of three months on the negative side, a period in which the sector had accumulated a loss of 2.2%. Three out of five activities investigated by the Monthly Survey of Services (PMS) advanced in November: other services (3.6%), professional, administrative and complementary services (1.0%) and services rendered to families (2.2%). The data were released today (16) by the IBGE.  

“The last three negative rates reduced the gains, though the November´s result put the sector quite above (10.8%) the pre-pandemic level,” notices Rodrigo Lobo, the manager of the survey. In addition, the services sector was 2.6% below the peak of the time series, hit in December 2022.

The biggest impact on the overall result came from the activity of  other services (3.6%), which grew for the third consecutive month, accumulating a rise of 4.9% in the period. “This sector was leveraged by auxiliary financial services, especially by the increase in the revenue of companies that use digital money, like those of electronic machines for credit and debit cards. That activity not only caused an impact on the result of other services, but also positioned the services sector as a whole on the positive side,” said the researcher. 

Professional, administrative and complementary services (1.0%), which exerted the second biggest contribution to the change of 0.4% in the sector, had already risen 1.1% in October, after dropping 1.0% in the previous month. “In this segment, the highlights were legal activities and companies of discount cards and loyalty programs,” details Lobo.  

Having advanced 2.2% in November, services rendered to families recovered the loss registered in October (-1.8%). “This month, the biggest influence came from the rise in lodging and food, though other services rendered to families also advanced, especially leveraged by the growth in the activity of theater and musical shows, due to the shows of singer Taylor Swift in Brazil,” says him. 

On the other hand, the two activities with the highest weight in the services sector stayed on the negative side. Volume of transportation retreated 1.0%, the fourth consecutive negative rate in this sector, which accumulated a retraction of 5.3% in this period. In November, passenger transportation retreated 2.9%, the third consecutive negative rate, whereas that of cargo advanced 0.6%, after dropping for three months in a row. 

“Transportation represented the most important negative impact on the overall services sector. This result was especially influenced by air transportation, which fell 16.1% in November, the most intense retraction since May 2022 (-18.6%). This drop was due to the prices of airfare, which rose 19.12% that month,” says the manager of the survey. 

Information and communication services, which represent nearly 23% of the whole sector, changed -0.1%, after advancing 0.2% in the previous month. “In November, the segment of telecommunications fell 3.2% and prevented a steeper growth of the services sector as a whole,” analyzes Lobo. The services of information technology (IT) grew 1.3% in the same period. 

Only 12 Federation Units followed the positive figure of volume of services in November. The biggest impacts came from São Paulo (1.1%), Paraná (2.4%), Mato Grosso (3.1%) and Mato Grosso do Sul (4.8%). On the negative side, Rio Grande do Sul (-2.0%), Federal District (-2.6%), Maranhão (-7.6%) and Amazonas (-4.8%) stood out. 

Services change -0.3% over November 2022

The services sector changed -0.3% compared with November 2022. Only two out of five activities investigated stayed on the negative side in this indicator: transportation (-3.7%) and information and communication (-0.4%). In the case of transportation, the result is explained by the drop in the revenue in the segments of management of ports and terminals, mass road transportation, air transportation, shipping agency activities, operation of airports and storage.

The sector of information and communication was impacted by the negative behavior of the activities of telecommunications, open TV activities, technical support, maintenance and other services in information technology, consulting in information technology and satellite TV operators.  

The other three activities expanded compared with November 2022: professional, administrative and complementary services (4.4%), services rendered to families (5.4%) and other services (3.3%).

Only eight out of 27 Federation Units followed the negative result for Brazil, highlighted by São Paulo (-4.6%). “This state, which represents nearly 47% of the entire services sector, exerted a sound impact on that result,” explains Lobo. 

Cumulative index in the year and in 12 months

The services sector accumulates a rise of 2.7% up to November 2023. The cumulative index in 12 months lost dynamism, since services changed from an advance of 3.6% in October to an expansion of 3.0% in November. 

Tourism activities fall 2.4% in November  

Tourism activities in Brazil retreated for the second consecutive month, accumulating a loss of 3.4%. The drop was of 2.4% in November. As a result, tourism was 2.2% above the pre-pandemic (February 2020) and 5.0% below the peak in the time series (February 2014).   

Ten out of 12 places surveyed followed the behavior of the national tourism activity (-2.4%).  São Paulo (-1.0%), Bahia (-7.0%), Minas Gerais (-2.6%), Paraná (-5.3%) and Ceará (-9.4%) exerted the biggest negative influences. On the other hand, the only advances came from Santa Catarina (0.7%) and Espírito Santo (0.9%).  

“Of the 22 activities that comprise the tourism index, the biggest negative impact came from air transportation of passengers, which was influenced by the increase in the airfare. It caused a negative pressure for the sector of transportation, for tourism activities and for services as a whole. Another factor that impacted tourism this month was the lower real revenue coming from car rentals, for the same reason, since car rental, measured by the IPCA, increased 8.27% in November,” highlights Lobo. He also highlights that both the inter-annual result (2.8%) and the cumulative index in the year (7.5%), tourism activities stood on the positive side.  

More about the survey 

The PMS produces indicators to monitor the short-term behavior of the services sector in Brazil. The survey investigates the gross revenue from services in formal enterprises that employ 20 or more persons, in which the main activity is a non-financial service, excluding the areas of health and education. It produces results for Brazil and all the Federation Units. Results are available on Sidra. 

This is the 11th release of the new time series of the survey, which updated the sample of enterprises, as well as included methodological changes to portray economic changes in the society. They are updates already scheduled and periodically implemented by the IBGE. The next release of the Monthly Survey of Services, related to December 2023, will be on February 9, 2024.